Where in the World is Cat?

This plant has brought me more happiness than anything else in the last four weeks.

I've been dealing with a mild bought of homesickness lately, and despite my best efforts to keep optimistic and upbeat, my roommate Kristi took notice to my change in mood. Today I returned home from my English lesson (I've started to teach English privately to make some money on the side), only to find another student, though oh so friendly, seeking help with his English homework. After helping him, I sat down at my desk, once again tired and worn out, just hoping to catch five minutes of quiet to recharge my batteries before having to head out onto the cold, windy streets again. Kristi sat quietly on her bed, reading, watching my every move - probably just making sure that I was okay, or so I thought. I then booted my computer and noticed something was amiss with my desk. There sat a plant, with messages hanging from different leaves. I looked at Kristi, who had a wide grin on her face. I had been talking about buying a plant since getting here - it makes a place feel cozy - but kept putting it off knowing that my money could be better spent elsewhere (aka - making copies of needed texts, buying groceries, etc). I looked at the plant, then looked at Kristi again. No words were needed - though I surely thanked her profusely many times, while bubbling over about my present. Kristi made my small dorm room seem a little more like a home for me, and to her I'm incredibly grateful. Thank you, Kristi!

I have found the Love Train. It rides between the Lenin Library in the center of the city to Yugo Zapadnaya at the end of the red line. As I boarded the train tonight on my way home from a lovely dinner with new acquaintances, I could feel the my muscles relax as I took a seat and rested my tired feet. I looked around, and realized this train was different. Everyone was smiling. People do not smile in Moscow. I looked around and at the back of the car there were a couple of young men having a great time playing their guitars on the train. Passengers slightly bobbed their heads, a slight smile on each of their faces. How I didn't hear the music first, before I noticed everyone smiling, I don't know - somethings stand out more than others in Moscow. As if in a movie, a young student boarded the train, saw the small group and sat with them. After bobbing his head a while and figuring out the right chords, he pulled a harmonica from his bag and started to play with him. The smile on each passenger's face grew. Two stops later, a policeman got on the train. The band kept playing, though everyone stopped smiling for a second, waiting to see what the policeman would do next. He walked over to the band, who were anxiously continuing their song, and then stood between two of the guitarists and started bobbing his head to the music as well. The smiles returned to everyone's face, and the policeman wore the widest of them all.

On this small, dingy traincar - one of hundreds riding tonight in Moscow - passengers got a treat on their way home. I was very thankful to be one of them.




The view from my window. Clear days are few, now that the weather is getting colder. Visible is the Moscow Institute of Radio Technology and Yugo Zapadnaya - the southern-most stop on the city's red Metro line.

My desk on any given school night. Or, now that I think of it, any night of the week.

Moscow State University, which as of the end of this year, will be the largest university in the world, hosting over 100,000 students.

Me! Standing in front of Moscow State University, just on the edge of Sparrow Hills.

GUM (pronounced Goom) - Moscow's most famous, but perhaps now least visited mall. It is located directly on Red Square as it is a state-run shopping center, and used to be the crown jewel of consumerism in Russia. Now, there are hundreds of malls in Moscow that would put any American shopping mall to shame.

Lenin's Tomb - Deserted on this Sunday afternoon, ten years ago you'd have to stand in line for hours to see him, today, we waited 20 minutes.

St. Basil's Cathedral - In my opinion, the most beautiful site in Moscow. Located at the end of Red Square, the cathedral was built during the time of the infamous Ivan the Terrible.

At the Submarine Museum in northern Moscow.
(From left to right: Me!, Tomash (Poland), Kristi (Hungary), Pavel (Russian - a real Muscovite!), Andrash (Hungary), and Mikhau (Poland).)

The park across the street from the university dorm. Very pretty!

"Student refrigerators". Ahhh, the luxuries of being a student...

Unfortunately not all things translate clearly from one language to another! (They're tasty nonetheless!)

The White House in Moscow. Unlike the White House of the US, the White House in Russia is home of the state parliament, not the President (he's in the Kremlin!).

Ah, I see subliminal advertising has made it's way to Russia. If you don't see what I'm talking about - you're a better person than I am!

My humble abode at MGIMO.

The best part about being in Moscow is being able to experience the events you would normally only hear about in the news back home. After the death of Russian journalist and human rights activist Anna Politkovskaya, a friend and I decided that it would most likely be more beneficial for us to attend the funeral than our last class that day. (Sorry Mom and Dad!) Here, we are waiting outside of the cemetery's hall to pay our respects to Anna's body and her family.

One of the most interesting things about going to Anna's funeral was to learn the difference between what actually happens and what gets reported in the news. During our 3 1/2 hours at the funeral, my friend and I only estimated about 500 people in attendance, perhaps another 300 who had come and left after leaving flowers. A few people even came wearing "I am Georgian" badges to protest the current deportation of any suspect Georgian in Russia. Few Chechnyans came the the funeral, most likely out of fear for their safety. However, the next day in the Moscow newspaper, articles read that "thousands of mourners" attended the funeral, and that funeral did not have as much a political tone to it as it did of one paying respect to a great writer and journalist. Western media reported a little more accurately, saying that about a couple hundred people attended, and that a few were brave enough to make a political statement while they were there.

Part of the Russian Orthodox funeral procession include throwing flowers on the path of the deceased to their grave. There were hundreds of thousands of flowers brought to the funeral by mourners. Here is part of the sad and colorful trail to Anna Politkovskaya's grave.

Part of the funeral procession to Anna's burial site. Amazingly, anyone who came to the funeral was allowed to take part and follow the car. This was a truly amazing experience - watching people, in silence, walk a good quarter mile to Anna's grave, throwing flowers on the ground the whole way there. Some younger students came and stood along the road with large bouqets of flowers and ribbons with political statements such as "Anna's Politkovskaya's Death was one of politics" and"Anna - wrote the truth."